France, July 31 -- French swimming sensation Leon Marchand won gold in the 200m individual medley at the world championships in Singapore on Thursday, a day after smashing the world record.

Marchand failed to match his previous night's heroics but his time of 1min 53.68sec was still the second-fastest of all time.

The 23-year-old was made to work hard for the win, with his University of Texas training mates Shaine Casas and Hubert Kos hot on his heels.

Casas, from the United States, finished second in 1:54.30. Kos, from Hungary, completed the 50m series of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestylein 1:55.34.

The triumph gave Marchand, who won four individual golds in front of his home fans at the Paris Olympics a year ago, his...